Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath: govt ordered to publish Raja Zafarul Haq report

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the federal authorities to immediately make public a report of the committee formed to fix responsibility for introducing a controversial amendment in the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath for electoral candidates.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the high court gave this direction in his detailed verdict in a case pertaining to the amendment in an oath avowing Khatm-e-Nabuwwat.

The judgment ruled that the oath about religion should be made compulsory for issuance of national identity cards, passports and electoral rolls.

It stated that Parliament failed to understand the sensitivity of the issue and could not identify the persons involved in hatching the conspiracy.

During a previous hearing, the judge had warned the authorities concerned of action if they failed to submit the report in court.

He said he can summon the prime minister over the government’s failure to place on record the report.

A federal law officer told the judge that the Raja Zafarul Haq-led committee’s report was incomplete, which was why it couldn’t be submitted in the court.

Irked by the law officer’s response, Justice Siddiqui clarified that he had ordered at the previous hearing that the report should be furnished even if it was incomplete.

A three-member committee, comprising Raja Zafarul Haq, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan, had probed introduction of a controversial amendment to Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath for electoral candidates and compiled a report over the matter.